Report: accused teen had scratch marks on body, knives hidden in room

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A new report says Tyler Weinman has knives in his room and scratches on his body, and that a tracking device on the teen's car puts him in proximity of the 19 cat killings he's charged with committing.

As his family claims his innocence, the evidence against the teen charged as the South Florida cat butcher is mounting, with a new report exposing the meat of the case against him.

According to the report, not only did police find knives hidden in 18-year-old Tyler Weinman's room, they reportedly saw scratch marks throughout his body, on his hands, arms, neck and chest - consistent with struggling with a cat or cats.

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Police also put a tracking device on Weinman's car that places him near the scene of the killings, according to the report. Weinman had been under surveillance by police for weeks before he was finally arrested early Sunday morning.

Weinman is charged with 19 counts of animal cruelty, 19 counts of improperly disposing of an animal body and four counts of burglary in the spree of cat mutilations and killings throughout Cutler Bay and Palmetto Bay. He was released yesterday on $249,500 bond after a judge examined a psychiatric evaluation and ruled that Weinman was competent to proceed.

Weinman's lawyer and father have both proclaimed his innocence, saying that all the evidence thus far has been circumstantial. And the police never actually caught Weinman in the act of killing a cat.

"I'm confident my son is innocent," the elder Weinman said outside court yesterday.

Police are still examining what sorts of forensic tests can be performed on the cats, but said it will be difficult as performing such test is unusual.